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This companion features original essays on the complexity of globalization and its diverse and sometimes conflicting effects. Written by top scholars in the field, it offers a nuanced and detailed examination of globalization that includes both positive and critical evaluations.

  • Introduces the major players, theories, and methodologies
  • Explores the major areas of impact, including the environment, cities, outsourcing, consumerism, global media, politics, religion, and public health
  • Addresses the foremost concerns of global inequality, corruption, international terrorism, war, and the future of globalization
  • Wide-ranging and comprehensive, an excellent text for undergraduate and graduate students in a range of disciplines

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Table of Contents

Cover

Introduction

Part I: Introduction

Introduction to Part I

Chapter 1: Globalization in Hard Times: Contention in the Academy and Beyond

INTRODUCTION

BEYOND THE ANTIMONIES OF GLOBALIZATION

DECONSTRUCTING THE GLOBALIZATION CONTROVERSY: IDENTIFYING THE SOURCES OF CONTENTION

ONE GLOBALIZATION OR MANY?

THE POLITICS OF GLOBALIZATION: REFORM, RESISTANCE OR REVOLUTION?

CONCLUSION: A POST-MORTEM FOR GLOBALIZATION?

Chapter 2: What Is Globalization?

THE PARAMETERS OF THE GENERAL PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION

THE DIMENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATION

THE FORM OF GLOBALIZATION

GLOCALIZATION

GLOBALIZATION AND GLOBAL HISTORY

CONCLUSION

Chapter 3: The Cultural Construction of Neoliberal Globalization

NEW AGE GLOBALIZATION AND THE US-LED NEW WORLD ORDER

MR FRIEDMAN’S PLANET: GLOBALIZATION’S EMERGENT CONSUMER-STOCKHOLDER REPUBLIC

MODERNIZATION THEORY REDUX: ELECTRONIC SOCIAL DARWINISM

Chapter 4: Globalization: The Major Players

STRONG ACTORS AND REALIST, ACTOR-CENTRED APPROACHES

WORLD CONTEXTS OF ACTORS

DIVERSE GLOBAL ACTORS AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS

UNITED NATIONS

CONCLUSIONS

Chapter 5: Globalization Today

THE GLOBALIZATION OF EXPERIENCE

GLOBALIZATION OF SOCIAL ENTITIES: INDIVIDUAL, STATE, CORPORATION

INSTRUMENTAL DIMENSIONS

MORAL DIMENSIONS

CONCLUSION: GLOBALIZED TENSIONS IN WORLD SOCIETY

Chapter 6: Theories of Globalization

THEORY AND THE RISE OF GLOBALIZATION STUDIES

THE GLOBALIZATION DEBATE AND THEORETICAL DISCOURSES

A SAMPLING OF THEORIES OF GLOBALIZATION

THE NETWORK SOCIETY

THEORIES OF SPACE, PLACE AND GLOBALIZATION

THEORIES OF TRANSNATIONALITY AND TRANSNATIONALISM

MODERNITY, POSTMODERNITY AND GLOBALIZATION

THEORIES OF GLOBAL CULTURE

A CONCLUDING COMMENT

Chapter 7: Studying Globalization: Methodological Issues

INTRODUCTION

STANDARD DATA SOURCES

STATISTICAL TOOLS

COUNTRIES AS CASES

CONCLUSION

Chapter 8: Cosmopolitanism: A Critical Theory for the Twenty-first Century

METHODOLOGICAL NATIONALISM AND ITS CRITIQUE

NEW CRITICAL THEORY OF SOCIAL INEQUALITIES FROM A COSMOPOLITAN PERSPECTIVE

Part II: The Major Domains

Introduction to Part II

Chapter 9: The End of Globalization? The Implications of Migration for State, Society and Economy

GLOBALIZATION AND MIGRATION

NATIONAL VOICES AND GLOBAL AGENTS

Chapter 10: Globalization and the Agrarian World

INTRODUCTION

WORLD-HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE AGRARIAN WORLD

DEVELOPMENT AND THE RELATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

GLOBALIZATION AND THE RELATIONS OF SOCIAL REPRODUCTION

GLOBALIZATION AS RESISTANCE

CONCLUSION

Chapter 11: Globalization and the Environment

INTRODUCTION: THE EARTH, THE GLOBE AND THE DISCOURSE OF THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

THE ‘GLOBAL-NESS’ OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

THE PROBLEMATIC GLOBAL QUALIFICATIONS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

GLOBAL FREE TRADE AND THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL INTERESTS

GLOBALIZATION AND THE PLAY OF ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Chapter 12: Cities and Globalization

INTRODUCTION

CITIES IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

GLOBAL SYSTEMS OF CITIES

POLARIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION

MAPPING THE WORLD-SYSTEM’S CITY SYSTEM

CONCLUSION

Chapter 13: The Sociology of Global Organizations

DEFINING GLOBALIZATION

THE ANTECEDENTS OF GLOBAL ORGANIZATION

THE NEW MANAGERIAL REVOLUTIONARIES

THE SOCIOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF MANAGEMENT FORMS

MANAGEMENT FASHIONS

WORK AND GLOBALIZATION

GLOBAL PROTEST

CONCLUSION

Chapter 14: Economic Globalization: Corporations

INTRODUCTION

THE SCALE AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS

WHY (AND HOW) FIRMS ‘TRANSNATIONALIZE’

GEOGRAPHY MATTERS: THE EMBEDDEDNESS OF TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS

‘WEBS OF ENTERPRISE’: TRANSNATIONAL PRODUCTION NETWORKS

Chapter 15: Outsourcing: Globalization and Beyond

CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION

CONCEPTUALIZING SOURCING, OUTSOURCING AND GLOBALIZATION

BEYOND ECONOMIC OUTSOURCING

TOWARDS A BROADER, MULTIDIMENSIONAL, SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTION OF OUTSOURCING

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION AND OUTSOURCING

Chapter 16: Globalization and Consumer Culture

IS THERE A GLOBAL CULTURE?

ATTRIBUTES OF GLOBAL CULTURE

GLOBAL SYSTEMS OF COMMON DIFFERENCE

COMMODIFICATION OF CULTURE

THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO GLOBAL CONSUMER CULTURE

CONCLUSION

Chapter 17: Cultural Globalization

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLOBALIZATION AND CULTURE

A GLOBAL CULTURE?

DETERRITORIALIZATION

COSMOPOLITANISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Chapter 18: Globalization and Ideology

INTRODUCTION: THE IDEOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF GLOBALIZATION

GLOBALIZATION AND THE SIX CORE CLAIMS OF GLOBALISM

COUNTER-IDEOLOGIES FROM THE POLITICAL RIGHT AND LEFT

THE FUTURE OF GLOBALISM

Chapter 19: Media and Globalization

THEORIZING GLOBAL MEDIA

GLOBAL MEDIA CULTURE

GLOBALIZATION FROM BELOW AND RESISTANCE

GLOBAL MEDIA SPECTACLES

Chapter 20: Globalization and Information and Communications Technologies: The Case of War

INTRODUCTION

GLOBALIZATION AND MEDIA

MEDIA, GLOBALIZATION AND WAR REPORTING

THE POROSITY OF THE NATION-STATE

STATES WITHOUT ENEMIES, ENEMIES WITHOUT STATES

FROM INDUSTRIAL TO INFORMATION WAR

HUMAN RIGHTS, DEMOCRATIZATION AND MEDIA

Chapter 21: Political Globalization

INTRODUCTION

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NATION-STATE, NATIONALITY AND CITIZENSHIP

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND COMMUNICATION

THE CENTRALITY OF CIVIL SOCIETY

THE TRANSFORMATION OF SPACES AND BORDERS

CONCLUSION

Chapter 22: Globalization and Public Policy

GLOBALIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE ECONOMIES

GLOBALIZATION AND INEQUALITY

GLOBALIZATION AND THE STATE

CONCLUSION

Chapter 23: Religion and Globalization

THE CATEGORIES OF GLOBALIZATION AND RELIGION

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

RELIGION AND RELIGIONS AS GLOBAL SYSTEM

CONCLUSION

Chapter 24: Globalization and Higher Education

INTRODUCTION

PRIVATIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

THE FOR-PROFITS

ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY: AN EMERGING GLOBAL MIDDLE CLASS?

GLOBALIZATION AND THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR EDUCATION

THE INSTRUMENTALIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM

MANAGERIALISM AND MARKETS

HIGHER EDUCATION AS A BUSINESS

THE IDEOLOGY OF GLOBALIZATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION

Chapter 25: Sport and Globalization

THEORIZING GLOCAL SPORTS

GLOCAL SPORTS PRACTICES

GLOCAL SPORTS SPECTACLES

GLOCAL SPORTS BODIES

CONCLUSION

Chapter 26: The Fate of the Local

UNDERSTANDING LOCALITY

LOSS OF THE LOCAL

LIFESAVING 101: RESCUING THE LOCAL

INTERVENTIONS INTO STUDIES OF THE LOCAL

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: THINKING WITH LOCALIZATION

Chapter 27: Public Health in a Globalizing World: Challenges and Opportunities

GLOBAL INCOME AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

GLOBALIZATION, NUTRITION, AND FOOD SECURITY AND SAFETY

DISEASES OF GLOBALIZATION

BORDERLESS DISEASES

MIGRATION AND GLOBAL RACE FOR KNOWLEDGE

GLOBALIZATION AND SECURITY

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE OF HEALTH

CONCLUSION

Part III: Major Issues and Conclusions

Introduction to Part III

Chapter 28: Globalization and Global Inequalities: Recent Trends

GLOBAL INEQUALITY

INEQUALITY

IS GLOBALIZATION A LEVELLING PROCESS?

GLOBAL INCOME INEQUALITY

OTHER GLOBAL INEQUALITIES

THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL INEQUALITY

Chapter 29: World Inequality in the Twenty-first Century: Patterns and Tendencies

BETWEEN-COUNTRY INEQUALITY: DIVERGENCE OR CONVERGENCE?

WITHIN-COUNTRY INEQUALITY: SHIFTING PATTERNS OF INEQUALITY AND GROWTH?

PARTS AND THE WHOLE: THEORIZING WORLD HISTORICAL INEQUALITY

CONCLUSIONS

Chapter 30: Globalization and Corruption

GLOBALIZATION AGAINST CORRUPTION

WHY GLOBALIZATION ENCOURAGES CORRUPTION

IS THE TIDE TURNING?

CONCLUSION

Chapter 31: Globalization and Sexuality

INTRODUCTION

CENTRING SEXUALITIES IN GLOBALIZATION STUDIES: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES

FRAMING SEXUALITIES AND GLOBALIZATION

CULTURE, IDENTITY AND COSMOPOLITAN ‘GAYNESS’

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

MIGRATION, PRODUCTION AND COMMODIFICATION

NATIONALISM, CITIZENSHIP AND NATION-STATE CONFLICT

COMMUNICATION CONNECTIONS: THE VIRTUAL AND THE ACTUAL

COLLECTIVE RESISTANCES AND SITUATED STRATEGIES

Chapter 32: War in the Era of Economic Globalization

INTRODUCTION

THE CLASSICAL ARGUMENTS AND THEIR QUALIFICATION

THE EMPIRICAL RECORD

THE WAY AHEAD IN THE LIBERAL THEORY OF PEACE

Chapter 33: Globalization and International Terrorism

UNDERSTANDING GLOBALIZED TERRORISM

CONTEXTUAL ENVIRONMENT: CIVILIZATIONAL FAULT LINES

OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT: GLOBALIZATION AND TERRORISM

INFORMATIONAL ENVIRONMENT: THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA

THE NEW WAR

THE CASE OF AL-QAEDA: AN ARCHETYPE FOR GLOBALIZED TERROR?

NEW CHALLENGES IN A NEW ERA

POSTSCRIPT: LESSONS FROM 9/11 AND 3/11

Chapter 34: Resisting Globalization

TECHNOPOLITICS OF RESISTANCE

THEORIZING GLOBAL RESISTANCE

Chapter 35: The Futures of Globalization

INTRODUCTION: DEFINING THE FIELD

CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION: RELIGION AND THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS

TECHNO-MILITARY GLOBALIZATION: TERRORISM AND NEW WARS

POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION: THE JURIDICAL REVOLUTION

BIO-ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION: INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND ORGAN TRANSPLANTS

BIO-ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION: THE GERONTOLOGICAL REVOLUTION

CONCLUSION: WASTE, WAR AND WARRIORS

Subject Index

Author Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 8: Cosmopolitanism: A Critical Theory for the Twenty-first Century

Table 8.1 Paradigmatic change from a national perspective to a cosmopolitan social science

Table 8.2 Sociology of social inequalities in the tension between the national and the cosmopolitan perspectives

Chapter 14: Economic Globalization: Corporations

Table 14.1 Some ideal-types of TNC organization: basic characteristics

Chapter 29: World Inequality in the Twenty-first Century: Patterns and Tendencies

Table 29.1 Economic measures in China by selected regions, 2003

Table 29.2 Education and health measures in India by selected states, 1998–1999

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1: Globalization in Hard Times: Contention in the Academy and Beyond

Figure 1.1 Debating globalization

Figure 1.2 Modes of analysis

Figure 1.3 Normative spaces

Figure 1.4 Contentious politics: the remaking of globalization

Chapter 9: The End of Globalization? The Implications of Migration for State, Society and Economy

Figure 9.1 Immigration to the United States, 1820–2001

Chapter 22: Globalization and Public Policy

Figure 22.1 The relationship between education spending and patents

Figure 22.2 Income inequality and prison population rate, OECD countries

Chapter 27: Public Health in a Globalizing World: Challenges and Opportunities

Figure 27.1 Detailed conceptual framework for globalization and health designed by Woodward et al. (1999)

Figure 27.2 Projected deaths by major cause and World Bank income group, all ages, 2005

Chapter 29: World Inequality in the Twenty-first Century: Patterns and Tendencies

Figure 29.1 Historical trends in between-country inequality: 1820–2004

Figure 29.2 Inequality trends for selected high-income countries

Figure 29.3 Inequality trends in India and China

Figure 29.4 Inequality trends for selected East Asian and Latin American countries

Guide

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e1

The Blackwell Companion to Globalization

Edited by

George Ritzer

This paperback edition first published 2016

© 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Edition history: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (hardback, 2007)

Registered Office

John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

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For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.

The right of George Ritzer to be identified as the author of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Blackwell companion to globalization / edited by George Ritzer.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4051-3274-9 (hardback : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-119-25072-2 (paperback)

1. Globalization. I. Ritzer, George.

JZ1318.B615 2007

303.48′2–dc22

2007001203

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: © Joe Sohm/Visions of America, LLC/Alamy

Illustrations

Figures

1.1 Debating globalization

1.2 Modes of analysis

1.3 Normative spaces

1.4 Contentious politics: the remaking of globalization

9.1 Immigration to the United States, 1820–2001

22.1 The relationship between education spending and patents

22.2 Income inequality and prison population rate, OECD countries

27.1 Detailed conceptual framework for globalization and health designed by Woodward et al. (1999)

27.2 Projected deaths by major cause and World Bank income group, all ages, 2005

29.1 Historical trends in between-country inequality: 1820–2004

29.2 Inequality trends for selected high-income countries

29.3 Inequality trends in India and China

29.4 Inequality trends for selected East Asian and Latin American countries

Tables

8.1 Paradigmatic change from a national perspective to a cosmopolitan social science

8.2 Sociology of social inequalities in the tension between the national and the cosmopolitan perspectives

14.1 Some ideal-types of TNC organization: basic characteristics

29.1 Economic measures in China by selected regions, 2003

29.2 Education and health measures in India by selected states, 1998–1999

Boxes

12.1 Friedmann’s ‘World Cities’, 1986 and 1995

12.2 Rankings of 23 of Friedmann’s 30 world cities (from highest to lowest ‘interconnectivity’), 1991

12.3 Recent empirically based estimates of the top world cities

27.1 Our Common Interest: Report for the Commission for Africa (2005)

Contributors

David L. Andrews is an Associate Professor of Sport Commerce and Culture in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland at College Park, USA, and an affiliate faculty member of the Departments of American Studies and Sociology. He is assistant editor of the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, and an editorial board member of the Sociology of Sport Journal, Leisure Studies, and Quest. He has published on a variety of topics related to the critical analysis of sport as an aspect of contemporary commercial culture. His recent publications include Sport–Commerce–Culture: Essays on Sport in Late Capitalist America (2006), Sport, Culture, and Advertising: Identities, Commodities, and the Politics of Representation (with S.J. Jackson, 2005), Sport and Corporate Nationalisms (with M.L. Silk and C.L. Cole, 2005), and Manchester United: A Thematic Study (2004). He has also guest edited special issues of the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, the Sociology of Sport Journal, Cultural Studies–Critical Methodologies and South Atlantic Quarterly.

Robert J. Antonio teaches sociology at the University of Kansas, USA. He is the editor of Marx and Modernity: Key Readings and Commentary (Blackwell, 2003). He has written widely on classical, contemporary and critical theory. He also has done work on various facets of globalization, frequently collaborating on that topic with Alessandro Bonanno.

Salvatore Babones is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, with secondary appointments in Pitt’s Graduate Schools of Public Health and Public and International Affairs. He is co-editor with Christopher Chase-Dunn of the forthcoming volume Global Social Change: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of social stratification in broad cross-national perspective. He is currently studying the relationship between economic globalization and domestic income inequality at the country level.

Ulrich Beck is Professor for Sociology at the University of Munich, Germany; British Journal of Sociology Visiting Centennial Professor of the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK; and director of a research centre ‘Reflexive Modernization’ (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). His numerous books include Risk Society (1992) and Power in the Global Age (2005).

Peter Beyer is Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa, Canada. His publications include Religion and Globalization (1994), Religion in the Process of Globalization (2001), Religions in Global Society (2006) and numerous articles in diverse journals and collected volumes. His current research focuses on religion among second generation Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist youth in Canada.

Tim Blackman is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at Durham University, UK and Head of the University’s School of Applied Social Sciences. He is an adviser to the UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on neighbourhood renewal. Among his publications are books on urban planning, urban policy, comparative social policy and health inequalities. He is currently working on a major project looking at the role of performance management in public health across England, Wales and Scotland. His previous posts include Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Law at Teesside University and Director of the Oxford Dementia Centre.

John Boli is Professor of Sociology at Emory University, USA. A native Californian and Stanford graduate, he studies world culture, global organizations, education, citizenship, and state power and authority. Recent books include World Culture: Origins and Consequences (with Frank Lechner; Blackwell, 2005) and Constructing World Culture: International Nongovernmental Organizations since 1875 (with George Thomas; 1999).

Melissa L. Caldwell is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. She is the author of Not by Bread Alone: Social Support in the New Russia (2004), and co-editor with James L. Watson of The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating (Blackwell, 2005). Her research on food, globalization and post-socialism in Russia has been published in journals such as The Journal of Consumer Culture and Ethnos. She is currently writing a book on summer gardens and personal agriculture in Russia.

Chris Carter is Reader in Management at the University of St Andrews, UK. He also holds a Visiting Appointment with the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. He travels globally quite a lot, especially in the Scottish winter.

Stewart Clegg is Professor of Management at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. He also holds appointments at the University of Aston Business School, Maastricht University and the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He travels globally a great deal.

Gerard Delanty is Professor of Sociology at the University of Liverpool, UK. His most recent publications include Community (2003) and (with Chris Rumford) Rethinking Europe: Social Theory and the Implications of Europeanization (2005). He has edited the Handbook of Contemporary European Social Theory (2005), and (with Krishan Kumar) Handbook of Nations and Nationalism (2006).

Nicholas C. DelSordi is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at Arizona State University, USA. He is currently working on a dissertation that analyzes the ethnic, cultural and structural integration of Mexican Americans in the United States and migrant groups in Europe from a global comparative/historical perspective. His general research covers issues of immigration, ethnicity and globalization, and how class polarization is implicated with broader global processes. He is also conducting research on the political participation and modes of incorporation among recent immigrants in the south-west.

Peter Dicken is Emeritus Professor of Geography in the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester, UK. He has held visiting academic appointments at universities and research institutes in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden and the United States and lectured in many other countries throughout Europe and Asia. He is an Academician of the Social Sciences, a recipient of the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) and of an Honorary Doctorate of the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He has served as a consultant to UNCTAD and to the Commission on Global Governance as well as to private organizations. He is recognized as a world authority on the geography of economic globalization through his extensive contributions to leading international journals and books and, especially, through his internationally acclaimed book, Global Shift: Reshaping the Global Economic Map in the 21st Century (4th edn, 2003).

Kathryn Farr is Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology at Portland State University, USA and the author of Sex Trafficking: The Global Market in Women and Children (2005). Her research interests are in transnational experiences of women with violence and feminist understandings of gender-based violence.

Glenn Firebaugh is Liberal Arts Research Professor of Sociology and Demography at Pennsylvania State University, USA and former editor of the American Sociological Review (1997–9). During the 2004–5 academic year he was a Visiting Scholar in the Sociology Department at Harvard University. Recent books include The New Geography of Global Income Inequality (2003) and Seven Rules for More Effective Social Science Research (forthcoming).

Brian Goesling is a post-doctoral fellow in the Population Research Center at the University of Michigan, USA. He received his PhD from Pennsylvania State University in 2003 and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow at Michigan from 2003 to 2005. In addition to global inequality, his research interests include the study of health disparities in the United States.

Douglas J. Goodman is an Assistant Professor at the University of Puget Sound, USA. He has published on consumer culture including Consumer Culture: A Handbook (ABC-CLIO, 2003) and ‘Consumption as a Social Problem’, in The International Handbook of Social Problems (2004); sociological theory including three texts with George Ritzer, Sociological Theory (2003), Classical Sociological Theory (2004) and Modern Sociological Theory (2004); and law and society including ‘Defending Liberal Education From the Law’, (with Susan Silbey) in Law in the Liberal Arts (2004). His current work focuses on the nexus between law and popular culture and he has a forthcoming article, ‘Approaches to Popular Culture and Law’, in Law and Social Inquiry.

Andrew D. Grainger is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park. His research examines sport’s role in the construction and negotiation of identities – both ‘local’ and ‘global’ – within, and between, Polynesia and the broader Pacific. Of particular interest is how the notion of diaspora may be employed as a means of understanding the lives, travels and migration of Pacific peoples, and Polynesian athletes in particular, throughout the Pacific and beyond.

Subhrajit Guhathakurta is an Associate Professor with appointments in the School of Planning and the International Institute for Sustainability at Arizona State University, USA. His research interests include land and regional economics, small industries in developing countries, housing policies, land use and environmental planning. His publications appear in journals such as World Development, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Urban Affairs Review, Berkeley Planning Journal, Mortgage Banking and the Journal of Planning Education and Research. He has held visiting appointments at the Center for Urban Spatial Analysis at University College London, and at the Center for Sustainable Urban and Regional Futures at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.

Farnoosh Hashemian is a Research Associate in the Department of Global Health at the Yale University School of Public Health, USA. Her research focus is on the nexus of global health policy and universal access to quality healthcare. She has worked extensively on health and human rights issues in the Middle East. Farnoosh Hashemian has compiled a two-volume Farsi book entitled The Trial and Diary of Abbass Amir Entezam, Iran’s deputy Prime Minister in 1979 and the longest-held prisoner of conscience in the Middle East. Published in the spring of 2001, the book has sold over 21,000 copies and stirred much political debate in Iran. Most recently, she was the recipient of a Yale’s Deans Award for Outstanding MPH thesis.

David Jacobson is the founding director of the School of Global Studies at Arizona State University, USA. His research and teaching is in politics from a global and legal perspective, with a particular focus on international and regional institutions, international law and human rights issues, and he works extensively in the area of immigration and citizenship. His books include Rights Across Borders: Immigration and the Decline of Citizenship (1996), Place and Belonging in America (2002) and editor of The Immigration Reader: America in Multidisciplinary Perspective (Blackwell, 1998).

Richard Kahn is a doctoral candidate at the UCLA Graduate School of Education, USA and is the co-editor of the recent book Theory, Facts, and Interpretation in Educational and Social Research (2004).

Douglas Kellner is George Kneller Chair in the Philosophy of Education at University of California Los Angeles, USA and is author of many books on social theory, politics, history and culture, including Critical Theory, Marxism, and Modernity (1989); Jean Baudrillard: From Marxism to Postmodernism and Beyond (1990); works in cultural studies such as Media Culture and Media Spectacle; a trilogy of books on postmodern theory with Steve Best; a trilogy of books on the Bush administration, including Grand Theft 2000 (2001); and his latest book Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy (2005). His website is at http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/kellner.html.

Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, USA and Professor Titular at the Escuela de Política y Gobierno of the Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina. He co-edited (with William Smith) Latin America in the World-Economy (1996), and Politics, Social Change, and Economic Restructuring in Latin America (1997). His articles have appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Desarrollo Económico, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Hispanic American Historical Review, Latin American Research Review and Revista Mexicana de Sociología. His current research focuses on global income inequality and on social movements in Latin America.

Craig Lair is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, USA. Craig attended Arizona State University where he received the John D. Hudson Memorial Award for the Outstanding Graduate in Sociology. Craig’s general interests include social theory, the sociology of work and the social processes of individualization. He is currently working on a project with George Ritzer on the sociology of outsourcing. His dissertation will concentrate on the outsourcing of intimate matters. Craig has co-authored a number of pieces for edited volumes dealing with such topics as the labour process of computer programming firms and the relevance of the McDonaldization thesis to service work. He has also published work on the relationship between communication technology and social relationships.

Eriberto P. Lozada Jr is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Director of Asian Studies at Davidson College in North Carolina, USA and the author of God Aboveground: Catholic Church, Postsocialist State, and Transnational Processes in a Chinese Village (2002). He has also published articles on his research on globalization and its impact on food and popular culture, various issues in science and religion, and is currently exploring the relationship between sports and civil society in China and the United States.

Xiulian Ma is a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Utah, USA. She earned a Master’s degree in Mass Communications and Journalism at Remin University of China in 2000. She is also a journalist, having worked for China’s The Economic Daily from 2000 to 2002, winning the China News Award (‘Zhongguo Xinwenjiang’) in 2002, for her coverage of rural communities’ poverty and related policy issues in Yan’an.

Anthony McGrew is Professor of International Relations at the University of Southampton, UK and Head of the School of Social Sciences. He has held Visiting Professorships at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto; Trinity College, Dublin; the Australian National University, Canberra; and the Centre for Global Governance, London School of Economics. Research interests embrace globalization, global governance (with particular reference to issues of accountability and democracy) and international relations theory. Recent publications include: (ed.) The Transformation of Democracy? Democracy Beyond Borders (1997); Global Transformations (with D. Held; 1999); The Global Transformations Reader (ed. with D. Held; 2003); (ed.) Empire: The United States in the Twentieth Century (2000); Globalization/Anti-Globalization (ed. with D. Held; 2002); Governing the Global Polity: From Government to Global Governance (2002); Understanding Globalization (ed. with D. Held; 2006); and Globalization, Human Security and Development (ed. with N. Poku; 2006).

Philip McMichael is an International Professor of Development Sociology at Cornell University, USA. His research focuses on food regime analysis, global development and transnational social movements. Recently he has authored Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective (2004), and co-edited New Directions in the Sociology of Global Development (2005).

Peter Manicas is currently Director of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. He has published many books and articles, including A History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences (Blackwell, 1987), War and Democracy (Blackwell, 1989) and most recently A Realist Philosophy of the Social Sciences: Explanation and Understanding (2006).

Gus Martin is Assistant Vice President for Faculty Affairs at California State University, Dominguez Hills, USA. He is former Chair of the Department of Public Administration and Public Policy, where he also coordinated and taught in the Criminal Justice Administration programme. His research and teaching interests are terrorism and extremism, criminal justice administration and juvenile justice process. Dr Martin was educated at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Duquesne University Law School and Harvard College.

Timothy Patrick Moran is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Faculty Director of the International Studies Undergraduate Program at Stony Brook University, SUNY, USA. His research and writing is currently focused on subjects related to global inequality in its various dimensions and forms. He also writes on issues related to the historical application of quantitative methods in the social sciences, specifically focusing on global measurement and comparative statistical techniques. His research has been supported by the Universidad Nacional de General San Martín, Argentina, and the Luxembourg Income Study Project.

Velina Petrova is a PhD candidate and Woodruff Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Emory University, USA. Her research interests include development, globalization and comparative democratization. She is currently constructing a system-level analysis of foreign aid for development covering all DAC donor countries since the Marshall Plan.

Clayton Pierce is a doctoral student in Education at the University of California Los Angeles, USA, with a specialization in philosophy and history of education. He is co-author of multiple encyclopaedia articles with Douglas Kellner including one for Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of Sociology on media and consumer culture.

George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. He was awarded the 2000 Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association and he has authored many refereed articles and more than 25 books, including monographs, reference works, and textbooks. He has been a major contributor to the literature on globalization as an author and editor, especially The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols., 2012); Globalization: A Basic Text (2nd edn., 2015 with Paul Dean), The McDonaldization of Society (8 editions, last in 2015), Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society (1995) and The Globalization of Nothing (2nd edn., 2007). He is editor of The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols., 2007; 2nd edn. forthcoming).

Roland Robertson is Professor of Sociology and Global Society at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh. He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of many published items, including Globalization: Basic Concepts in Sociology (6 vols, 2003) and The Encyclopedia of Globalization (4 vols, 2006). His current interests are primarily in glocalization, cosmopolitanism and global millennialism.

William I. Robinson is Professor of Sociology, Global and International Studies and Latin American and Iberian Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara, USA. His most recent books are A Theory of Global Capitalism: Production, Class and State in a Transnational World (2004) and Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization (2003). Pine Forge Press will publish his new manuscript, Theories of Globalization, in 2007.

Chris Rumford is Senior Lecturer in Political Sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. His most recent publications include (with Gerard Delanty) Rethinking Europe: Social Theory and the Implications of Europeanization (Routledge, 2005), and The European Union: A Political Sociology (Blackwell, 2002). He is currently editing the Handbook of European Studies, and completing a new book entitled Cosmopolitan Spaces: Europe, Globalization, Theory.

Gerald Schneider is, since 1997, Professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz, Germany, where he holds the International Relations Chair. He is also Executive Editor of European Union Politics and has authored or co-authored around 100 scholarly articles. His main areas of research are decision-making in the European Union as well as the economic causes and consequences of armed conflict. Recent publications have appeared in European Journal of International Relations, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Political Studies and Rationality and Society.

Manfred B. Steger is Professor of Global Studies and Head of School of International and Community Studies at RMIT University, Australia. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Globalization Research Center at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. His academic fields of expertise include global studies, political and social theory, international politics and theories of non-violence. His most recent publications include Globalism: Market Ideology Meets Terrorism (2nd edn., 2005); Judging Nonviolence: The Dispute Between Realists and Idealists (2003); Globalization (2003); Gandhi’s Dilemma: Nonviolent Principles and Nationalist Power (2000); and The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein and Social Democracy (1996). He is currently working on a book manuscript titled Ideology in the Global Age: Transforming the National Imaginary.

George M. Thomas holds a PhD in Sociology from Stanford University and is Professor of Global Studies at Arizona State University, USA. His research and teaching focus on world cultural processes and their constitutive effects on authority and identity. He has a long-term research programme on how religious groups engage global rationalism. He is co-editor with John Boli of Constructing World Culture: International Nongovernmental Organizations since 1875 (1999).

Michael Timberlake is Professor of Sociology and Department Chair at the University of Utah, USA. His research has contributed to developing scholarship on cities and urbanization that takes into account social, economic, cultural and political processes operating across national borders, at the world level. He is currently involved in studying global networks of cities through research partly supported by the National Science Foundation.

John Tomlinson is Professor of Cultural Sociology and Director of the Institute for Cultural Analysis, Nottingham (ICAn) at Nottingham Trent University, UK. His many publications on the themes of globalization, cosmopolitanism, cultural modernity and mediated cultural experience include Cultural Imperialism (Continuum, 1991) and Globalization and Culture (Polity Press, 1999). He is currently writing a book on the relationship between speed and cultural modernity.

Howard Tumber is Professor of Sociology at City University London, UK and founder and co-editor of the journal Journalism. He is author of several books, including Reporting Crime: The Media Politics of Criminal Justice (with Philip Schlesinger; 1994), News: A Reader (1999) and Media at War (with Jerry Palmer; 2004). Tumber and Webster published Journalism under Fire: Information War and Journalistic Practices in 2006.

Bryan S. Turner was Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, UK (1998–2005) and is currently Professor of Sociology in the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. He is the research leader of the cluster on globalization and religion, and is currently writing a three-volume study of the sociology of religion and editing the Dictionary of Sociology for Cambridge University Press. A book on human rights and vulnerability is to be published in 2006 by Penn State University Press. Professor Turner is a research associate of GEMAS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris), a professorial Research Associate of SOAS, University of London, and an honorary professor of Deakin University, Australia. Professor Turner’s recent publications include Classical Sociology (1999) and The New Medical Sociology (2004). With Chris Rojek, he published Society and Culture: Principles of Scarcity and Solidarity (2001) and with Engin Isin he edited the Handbook of Citizenship Studies (2002).

Carolyn Warner is Associate Professor in the School of Global Studies and Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Political Science at Arizona State University, USA, and a research fellow with the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. Her book, Corruption in the European Union, is forthcoming with Cornell University Press, and her works on patronage and fraud have appeared in Party Politics, The Independent Review and Clientelism, Interests, and Democratic Representation (edited by Simona Piattoni; 2001). Her major work on rent seeking by a religious organization is Confessions of an Interest Group: The Catholic Church and Political Parties in Post-War Europe (2000).

Frank Webster is Professor of Sociology at City University London, UK. He has written many books, including The Virtual University? Knowledge, Markets and Managements (with Kevin Robins; 2002), Theories of the Information Society (Routledge, 2002), The Intensification of Surveillance (with Kirstie Ball; 2003) and The Information Society Reader (2004).

Kathleen E. White is an educational researcher and consultant in global education. She has been a pioneer in global and international education in the United States and has authored, co-authored and edited numerous items in this and the general field of globalization. She has co-edited Globalization: Critical Concepts in Sociology (6 vols., 2003).

Derek Yach is currently a Professor of Public Health and head of the Division of Global Health at the Yale University School of Public Health, USA. He joined Yale after a long career with the World Health Organization where he was responsible for developing a new ‘Health for All’ Policy, which was adopted by all governments at the May 1998 World Health Assembly. He established the Tobacco Free Initiative and ensured that the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO’s first treaty) was accepted by all governments, and also placed chronic diseases and injuries higher on the global health agenda. Derek Yach has studied and written extensively about the breadth and depth of health issues as well as the challenges of globalization for health and the new era of global health governance.

Steve Yearley is Professor of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge and Senior Professorial Fellow of the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He specializes in environmental sociology and the sociology of science and, in particular, in areas where these fields overlap. His recent books include Cultures of Environmentalism (2005), Making Sense of Science (2005) and (with Steve Bruce) The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology (2006).

Introduction

GEORGE RITZER

While this essay constitutes an introduction to this volume, it is being written after all the chapters have been submitted (and revised, sometimes several times) and the introductions to each of the three parts of the book have been completed. It is actually more of an epilogue than an introduction; a reflection on the chapters in the volume and, more importantly, on what they have to tell us about the state and quality of our knowledge and understanding of one of the most important phenomena of our times – globalization.

One of the points that is almost always made about the study of globalization is how contested almost everything is, including the definition of globalization itself. In terms of the latter, it is interesting how many authors of the chapters to follow found it necessary to define globalization, often in the first paragraph or so of the chapter. That act indicates, I think, that there is no consensus on the definition and each of the authors who offered one wanted to make something clear that they felt was not clear or agreed-upon.

If the need to define globalization indicated a lack of consensus, most of the definitions proffered used similar ideas and demonstrated more consensus than is usually assumed (including by the authors represented here). Among the terms usually included in the definitions offered were, in order of frequency, speed and time (accelerating, rapidly developing etc.), processes and flows, space (encompassing ever greater amounts of it), and increasing integration and interconnectivity. A composite definition, therefore, might be: Globalization is an accelerating set of processes involving flows that encompass ever-greater numbers of the world’s spaces and that lead to increasing integration and interconnectivity among those spaces.

A basic distinction among positions taken on globalization, one made several times in this book, is globophilia versus globophobia. In fact, the chapters in this volume, indeed in much of the social science literature on globalization (contrary to what Turner argues in the concluding chapter), are much more informed by globophobia than globophilia. While most of the authors here lean toward the former, it is almost always from the political left (rather than the right), and involves a wide range of criticisms of globalization in general, as well as the specific aspects of it of concern to them.

Globophilia is generally associated with a view, the mainstream neoliberal, ‘Washington Consensus’, that tends to be disliked, if not despised, by most of the authors represented here (see, especially, Antonio and his critique of a well-known cheerleader for this position, Thomas Friedman; neoliberalism has pride of place in Steger’s delineation of the elements of ‘globalism’ as the hegemonic ideology in the epoch of globalization). It is generally associated by its critics with economic domination, exploitation and growing global inequality. McMichael focuses, specifically, on neoliberal agricultural policies such as the ‘law of comparative advantage’ which has had a variety of devastating effects (for example, de-agrarianization and depeasantization) on the agriculture of the South. And, it has led, among many other things, to the growth of rural industrialization (e.g. maquiladores) and to the underpaid jobs associated with it that force workers to supplement their wages in various ways. Yearley suggests that neo-liberal policies have led to many of the devastating environmental problems that have faced, are facing and are increasingly likely to face much, if not all, of the globe.

Relatedly, in an analysis of a key economic aspect of globalization – outsourcing – Ritzer and Lair take on a favourite theoretical perspective of the neoliberals, Schumpeter’s (1950) ‘creative destruction’, and argue (at least in the case of outsourcing), contrary to the theory and its adherents, that destruction is not always creative (for a similar use of creative destruction, see Korzeniewicz and Moran). Thus, in terms of issues discussed above, it may well be that the destruction of Southern peasants and agriculture is just destructive, at least for them; there is little or no construction (save the highly exploitative macquiladores) taking place at least in the South to compensate for the losses. More clearly, the destruction of the environment is certainly not accompanied by any constructive ecological developments. At a more general level, many of the inadequacies of the theory of creative destruction, at least as Schumpeter envisioned it, are traceable to the fact that it was created to deal with an economic world that existed long before the current boom in globalization and it is ill-suited to dealing with new global realities where destruction is at least as prevalent in many domains as creation.

Before we leave globophilia in general and Friedman (2005) in particular, it is worth mentioning, and casting a critical eye on, his recent and highly positive view that globalization is leading to a flat world. Among many other things, this means that barriers to participation are coming down throughout the world and, as a result, involvement is growing more democratic and the world less unequal (see below; Firebaugh and Goesling). While a laudable view, and one with at least some merit, the fact remains that it flies in the face of not only the considerable (although debatable, see below) evidence on increasing inequality, but virtually the entirety of the field of sociology and its study of innumerable structures and institutions that are erected, and often serve as barriers (sometimes insuperable mountains), on the global landscape. From a sociological view, the world is, and is likely to remain, at least hilly, if not downright mountainous, impeding the development of easy participation, greater democracy and less inequality. Among those hills, if not mountains, are cities (Timberlake and Ma), nation-states (Delanty and Rumford), transnational corporations (Dicken), educational (especially higher education) systems (Manicas), systems of healthcare (Hashemian and Yach), organized corruption (Warner) and so on. Were the flat world envisioned by Friedman ever to come about, we would either need to abandon sociology (an act that would be welcomed by many) or so alter it to make it unrecognizable.

This view on the continuation of barriers in the world is supported by Guhathakurta, Jacobson and DelSordi who take on the issue of the idea of the ‘end of globalization’ in the context of migration. Some argue that globalization has ended because we have achieved free and easy movement of people through and across borders. Guhathakurta et al. contend, however, that creating borders is ‘natural’ (an essentializing view that is questionable in light of postmodern theory) and the continued creation of such barriers means that we are unlikely ever to see the free movement of people and therefore the end of globalization (at least in the sense they are using that idea here).

In spite of the predominance of globophobia in this volume, none of the authors rejects globalization outright and in its entirety. Rather, their view is that the problem lies not in globalization per se, but in the way globalization currently operates. There is a widespread sense that globalization is with us for the foreseeable future, if not forever (it is often portrayed here as ‘inevitable or ‘inexorable’; see, for example, Steger), so the issue is one of what is needed in order to create a ‘better’ form of globalization. For example, the problems of globalization are often associated with its economic1 aspects (usually accorded pride of place in the process) and, more specifically, its domination by capitalism. Capitalism, by its very nature, is seen as leading to various problems such as global inequality and exploitation. Thus, for some, the answer lies in the creation of a different kind of economic globalization that leads to greater equality, and less exploitation, in the world (e.g. Antonio; more below).

This, of course, bears on the normative aspects of globalization and, as with all aspects of this phenomenon, there are great differences and important disputes. For example, there are those more radical than Antonio who would reject a role for all forms of capitalism in globalization, while there are others, more to the right, who would find his ideas on the sources of a reformed type of globalization far too radical.

But much more is in dispute in the study of globalization including fundamental images of the nature of the subject matter in globalization studies (McGrew), as well as basic theories (Robinson) and methods (Babones). One way of looking at this is to say that there is great richness in globalization studies with a wide range of perspectives, normative orientations, theories and methods to choose from. But another is to suggest that these profound differences, this near-total lack of agreement, are representative of a ‘crisis’ that can only be resolved through a paradigmatic  revolution and the creation of a new paradigm not only for the study of globalization, but for the social sciences in general. Such a new paradigm – cosmopolitanism – is suggested in this volume (and in many other works) by Ulrich Beck who argues that the social sciences (e.g. sociology, political science, international relations) are still locked into older paradigms which, among other commonalities, take the nation-state as their basic unit of analysis (this is also criticized by Korzeniewicz and Moran). Suggested in Beck’s position is a paradigmatic revolution in which the globe becomes the basic unit of analysis (for Korzeniewicz and Moran it is the world-system) and new normative orientations, overarching perspectives, theories and methods are created to fit better with such a revolutionary new focus.

While we await such a paradigmatic revolution, which of course may never come, we are left with all sorts of intellectual differences in the study of globalization. However, those differences pale in comparison to those to be found in work on a wide range of substantive issues that relate to globalization. These include whether there is any such thing as globalization and, if there is, when it began and how is it different from prior stages in the history of the globe. Obviously, by its very existence, this volume indicates support for the view that there is such a thing as globalization, but that is not terribly helpful because under that heading there exist a bewildering array of players (Thomas) and every conceivable social structure and social institution (Boli and Petrova, as well as at least all of the chapters in Part II of this book). In addition, there are all sorts of new players (learning the names of, and the difference between, international governmental organizations [IGOs] and international non-governmental organizations [INGOs] is a necessity) and more are coming into existence all the time. Furthermore, virtually every aspect of the social world, including all social structures and institutions, is undergoing dramatic changes because, at least in part, of globalization. As a result, the global is a near-impossible world to master both because our intellectual tools are inadequate, in dispute and perhaps out of date and because we are trying to deal with so much and everything we seek to analyze is changing, coming into existence and disappearing. Paraphrasing Marx in his analysis of capitalism, in globalization all that has seemed to be solid is melting into thin air and that which is to be re-formed or newly created seems likely to melt away very soon.

The result of all of this is that everything in globalization studies seems to be up-for-grabs. Much of the field appears to be dominated by debates of all sorts. Let us enumerate at least some of those debates that are dealt with, or touched on, in these pages.

Perhaps the most important substantive debate is whether globalization brings with it more (Korzeniewicz and Moran; relatedly, Blackman wonders whether globalization is causing greater inequality) or less (Firebaugh and Goesling) inequality. (Babones both casts light on this issue and seems to suggest that at least from a methodological ground the former are on the stronger footing.)

At a scholarly level, Beck makes the point that the tendency to take the state as the unit of analysis leads to a focus on, and concern for, the relatively small inequalities within nation-states. More importantly, this leads to a tendency to ignore the glaring and enormous inequalities that exist at a global level. This is a key reason why he argues for a paradigmatic shift involving, among other things, a change in the unit of analysis from the nation-state to the globe.

Beyond these general issues, inequality comes up in many other ways both in the literature on globalization as a whole and in this volume. A range of positions are represented here including the oft-repeated view that the dominant neo-liberal approach inevitably leads to global inequality (Antonio) and that there is relatively little that can be done about it within the confines of that orientation versus what Steger calls ‘universalist protectionism’, which seeks at least a reduction in global inequality (as do, as Blackman shows, various government policies). Then there is the fact that some IGOs support this unequal system and even serve to increase such inequality. However it is also true that this inequality has spawned various organizations (especially INGOs) seeking to combat this tendency toward increasing inequality.